Giving Premier League 2017: The Journey That Was

What happens when the entire nation comes forward to give?

The Giving Premier League, an initiative to help Indian charities in expanding their donor base through empowering tools and rewards, was concluded on March 25th, 2017 and the results were exemplary, to say the least. With the intention of bringing awareness about non-profits that are contributing towards the welfare of the society, the potential donors were enthused to make a contribution to the charity or a cause of their choice.

Non-profits from across the nation engaged in fundraising in the digital space as they represented teams from seven different regions across India, with the ‘Empathetic East’ team, comprised of NGOs from West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and Bihar, emerging the winner by raising a total of over Rs. 26 lakh . As a contributing grant for the winning team, LetzChange’s partner organization Letz Dream Foundation matched 30% of the total amount raised by the qualifying NGOs of the Empathetic East, thereby taking their total donation value in excess of Rs. 33 lakhs. The second position in the League has been secured by the ‘Northern Knights’ team, comprised of NGOs from Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, who raised more than Rs. 24 lakh.

Giving trends observed at the culmination of the competition revealed that education was the most preferred philanthropic cause for donors, with more than 60% of the total donations raised for non-profits in the education sector. Parivaar Education Society, a Kolkata based organization working for the overall care and development of underprivileged and vulnerable children, including orphans, street children, abandoned and impoverished children from tribal areas, collected the maximum funds of over 26 lakhs, followed by Sant Singaji Education Society, a co-educational college with a focus on educating the rural youth, based in Madhya Pradesh, which collected almost Rs. 14 lakh. The Society for Development Activities, based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, collected over Rs. 11 lakh for their flagship initiative ProjectKHEL that uses the concept of play and fun as development tools to engage with children and impart life skills education.

The aim of exercises like these is to remove physical barriers that stop prospective donors from contributing to society, by allowing them to use our dependable platform along with their own social networks, to raise funds for the causes they believe in.